Nothing to Lose
by Nightlingbolt
Summary: When you got nothing, freedom is just another word. Or something like that. Random themes of Natsu and Erza. Because we need them. At least I do.
1. Complicated

**Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Welcome to my new project, Nothing to Lose!**

**So it's no secret I'm blocked on Natsu's Diary (which at this point, I figure I should just delete. I'm not that good at love triangles, mostly because I hate conflict, which we all saw the result of in ABCs's Cheat, but we won't go there). Plus I'm halfway through the new chapter of Castelia Resonance, and I'll get to work on Chapter 3 of DTKTS as soon as I get my regular computer up.**

**See, my computer charger's been acting up for a little while, and I've needed a new battery since God knows when, so I ordered 'em, and they should be here in a matter of days. Meanwhile, I'm filling the time with prompts from the 100 themes challenge, all centered around Natsu and Erza, of course, written on my father's computer. I don't know if I'll do all 100, but hey, it should at least give me an excuse to flex my writing muscles in between my big projects.**

**I should stop talking for now, and just get on with the story.**

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does.**

* * *

Natsu watched Erza eat her strawberry cake from across the bar, not even paying attention to Lucy's story about the solo job she went on recently.

"…but it turned out the ring was a medium for very powerful Water magic, so powerful the wearer could even pull water from the atmosphere to attack. Even Aquarius couldn't handle it, so in the end, I had to…" Lucy frowned when she realized Natsu was distracted.

"Lucy Kick!" She kicked Natsu hard in the stomach, thankfully away from Erza and her cake.

"Owwww!" groaned Natsu. "What was that for, Lucy?" His face brightened up. "I get it! You want to fight! Well don't think I'm gonna lose to you, hear me?"

"Why weren't you paying attention to my story?!" yelled Lucy angrily.

"Huh? Oh, sorry," said Natsu. "I must've been distracted."

"You were looking at Erza," Happy pointed out. "You liiike her!"

"Seriously?" sighed Lucy. Happy had told her about Natsu's crush on Erza sometime when she was still new to the guild. Thinking back, it was around the time Erza was arrested. That did explain why he went so far just to get her off. "Look, Natsu. You're never gonna get this monkey off your back if you don't tell Erza how you feel."

"There's a monkey on my back?" said Natsu in a panic. "Ahh! Oh God, get it off!" He started thrasing around trying to get the imaginary monkey off of him.

Lucy kicked him again. "It's a figure of speech, you idiot!" she yelled.

"Who are you calling an idiot, weirdo?!" Natsu yelled back.

"Look, let's just both calm down, all right?" said Lucy. "Now. Having a monkey on your back is a phrase meaning that there's something you want or need to say or do. In this case, the monkey is your feelings for Erza."

Lucy figured that this was the case. Erza always got a little depressed when she and Jellal had to separate, and Natsu and Gray always worried over her. In fact, they never even fought in the 48-hour period after the last time Erza saw Jellal, which Gray attributed to Natsu.

Natsu sighed. "It's not that simple," he said. "I wanted to confess after we defeated Oracion Seis, but Jellal got arrested, and… nothing I could think to say felt right. I'm not gonna trample all over her feelings for him."

"All the same, you deserve to at least ask her on a date or something," said Lucy. "If she says yes, she's at least willing to give you a chance. If she says no, at least you expressed your interest in her. I mean, look at Shadow Gear. Levy-chan's still friends with Jet and Droy despite rejecting them, so why can't you and Erza stay friends?"

"I don't know, Luce," said Natsu.

"It's not as complicated as it seems," said Lucy. "I'll tell you what. If you ask Erza out, I'll grill you ten pounds of fish."

Natsu's eyes widened. "Ten… pounds of… fish?" he repeated, drooling at the thought.

"Yup!" said Lucy. "Now go get her, Salamander!"

"Aye, sir!" said Natsu. He went over to Erza, taking care in his approach, as she was still eating her cake.

"Hey Erza," he said, tapping her on the shoulder.

"Hello, Natsu," said Erza curtly. "If you're looking for a fight, I must insist you wait until I've finished my cake."

"Actually, I wanted to know if you wanted to go on a date with me," said Natsu.

"Eh? A date?" said Erza in surprise.

"Umm… yes?" said Natsu nervously. Throwing up his arms protectively, he yelled, "Don't kill me!"

After taking a minute to process this development," she said, "All right."

"I didn't want to do it!" said Natsu. "Lucy promised me fish, and… what?"

"I'll go on a date with you," said Erza. "It might do me some good, and more importantly, I know I can trust you to show me a good time."

Standing up to face Natsu, she said, "I'll meet you at that Ishvalan place at 7:30. I expect you to look presentable." Turning to Mirajane, she ordered the rest of her cake to go.

Natsu pinched himself, but it was no dream. He had a date with Erza Scarlet.

Awesome.

* * *

**And there you go.**

**By Fanfiction's count, I have 711 words in the original document (Oh, thank Heaven. :D (I totally didn't add that last word just to bring the counter to that. Shaddap.)). Well, that's mostly because, as this is my father's computer for the time being, I don't want to work too hard on these, or any future entries to this in the future. But still, I'm probably gonna transfer my Nightlingbolt-1000 stories to this account, since they don't see a lot of exposure there. In other words, I'm slightly more lenient on the whole 1000 words thing. But that's neither here nor there.**

**For now, I'm just gonna say goodbye, and peace and love from Nightlingbolt.**


	2. Start

**Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Welcome back to another installment of Nothing to Lose!**

**Literally nothing has changed since my last upload. Though I did get a few comments about Ishval being a reference to Fullmetal Alchemist. So really, I figure I should point this out quickly, so copypaste time! Yaaaaay!**

Ishval in a Fairy Tail context was first mentioned by Ooba Baabasama, Lamia Scale's Guild Master, during the fight between Laxus and Jura. She mentioned that the top four Wizard Saints were from a place called Ishval. Granted, we don't know if it's a city or a country, but considering there's no mage in Fiore that has anywhere near Jura's reputation, I'd say the latter.  


**In other words, DOES NO ONE READ THE BLOODY CHAPTERS ANYMORE?! IS ALL THAT TEXT THERE JUST TO FUCKING LOOK PRETTY?! NO! IT'S THERE TO EXPLAIN WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON!**

**I should start this chapter before my ranting gets me in trouble again. Enjoy!**

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does.**

* * *

At the restaurant, Erza and Natsu had just finished their meals. They had fun in each other's company, though neither was willing to quite acknowledge the fact that they were on a date, despite Erza's order for Natsu to dress up, as well as her own attempts at dressing to impress.

"So," said Erza. "What made you decide to ask me out?"

"Lucy promised me fish," replied Natsu.

"So this whole date was just so you could get some fish," said Erza flatly as she summoned a large broadsword, clearly not amused at Natsu's response.

"No!" said Natsu quickly. "No, it wasn't!"

"Then what does fish have to do with anything?" asked Erza.

"I… kind of had some hang-ups about asking you on a date," said Natsu. "Blue-haired, tattooed hang-ups, to be exact."

It didn't take much for Erza to figure out what Natsu was talking about. "Jellal," she said.

"Aye," said Natsu. "I mean, I knew you loved him, so I just held back my own feelings out of respect."

"For my feelings, or Jellal himself?" prompted Erza.

"Mainly your feelings," said Natsu. "I figured if we could have one date, that would be all I need."

Erza frowned. "How long have you wanted to go on a date with me?" she asked.

"Well, I always had sort of a crush on you, even though I was happy spending my time with Lisanna," said Natsu. "But when we thought she died, I went out of my way to avoid feeling that way again. Then the Tower happened, and when Simon told me how much of a threat Jellal was to you, I had two thoughts running through my mind: 'Save Erza,' and 'Not again.' Then when I saved you, I felt the weight of Lisanna's death leave my shoulders, even though it would always be a sore spot for me. So… since after that, I guess."

Erza nodded. "And what were these 'hang-ups,' exactly?" she asked sternly.

Natsu sighed. "After Jellal got arrested, I wanted to comfort you, to say I was there for you, all that crap," he said. "Except… I couldn't. There was nothing I could say that-"

"There was nothing to say," Erza interrupted. "I would have lost Jellal either way, but losing you – any of you – was unacceptable to me." She sighed. "Now, seven years later, I still don't feel like I have him. And I don't think I ever will."

Silence reigned for a couple moments. "This is why," said Natsu. "This is why I couldn't confess back then. I want to tell you everything will be okay, but it won't."

"It will," said Erza firmly, grasping Natsu's scarf. "Because I have Fairy Tail. And because I have you." She tugged the scarf, bringing Natsu closer to her.

"M-me?" said Natsu.

"Especially you," whispered Erza. She slowly pulled his lips closer to her own, and…

"Could I interest either of you in dessert?" asked their server.

"Kyaah!" squealed Erza, letting Natsu go.

"So… cute…!" said Natsu.

"…I can come back, if you'd prefer," said the server.

"Oh! No, we're… we're fine!" said Erza. "No dessert! Just the check!"

"Aye! The check!" agreed Natsu.

"I'll be back in a moment," said the server… walking away nervously.

Both mages had serious blushes on their faces. Neither knew if they were officially a couple. But hey, at least it was a start.

* * *

**Jesus, these are short!**

**Speaking of short things, on the shortlist is transferring the Nightlingbolt-1000 stories (or just Black and White, given Drunk Dialing makes literally no sense given recent manga events... meh, I can always disclaim that) to this account, and then deleting the 1000 account. I should probably get to that.**

**For now, peace and love from Nightlingbolt.**


	3. Seeing Red

**Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Here comes another installment of Nothing to Lose!**

**I might as well let you guys in on a little behind-the-scenes crap. As soon as I complete one theme, I go to the 100 Themes list and use to pick my next theme. So as you can tell by the chapter title, I ended up with Seeing Red. I struggled a bit with this one, but ultimately, I got this idea, and so I wrote. Huh-freaking-zah.**

**I'll probably include some other ships in later chapters. They'll go something like this, but I'm open to suggestions:**

**Natza (the whole point of this little shenanigan)  
Gruvia  
GaLe  
BacCana  
ElfEver  
LaLu  
BixLi  
**

**Maybe more as more characters get involved. But for now, enjoy what I've got.**

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does.**

* * *

Natsu was seriously starting to lose his patience.

Erza had dragged him to the town mall for whatever reason. Team Natsu had just completed a job, and they had, amazingly enough, not caused any property damage, which was part of the reason why Natsu was so cranky. As such, each member had quite a pretty Jewel to their name, and Erza was determined to spend her share on a cute new ensemble.

According to Erza, Natsu had the best fashion sense among the team, if not the whole guild. Natsu would have to disagree on that - he just knew what looked good and what didn't, and he was brutally honest about it. Of course, that was failing him immensely now that he had spent an hour approving or disapproving the outfits Erza chose.

Erza came out of the dressing room, sporting a red sleeveless v-neck top with the words "Queen of Hearts" spelled out within a heart outlined in white. Along with the top, she was wearing short white khaki shorts.

"Well, Natsu?" prompted Erza. "How does this look?"\

Natsu groaned inwardly. This was the third red outfit Erza had tried on. She had wanted something to match her hair, and Natsu couldn't see why. Her scarlet hair was the best thing about Erza in his opinion. Not that he had the balls to ever tell her so.

He had found a flaw with the other two ensembles, but for some reason, he couldn't come up with anything for this one. "I like it," he said.

Erza smiled, then looked down at the shirt and frowned. "I'm having second thoughts about the writing," she said. "I mean, I'm not out to seduce anyone." She shrugged. "Oh well, I'll keep it for when the time comes that I do want to be seductive."\

She turned around to go back into the dressing room, when she noticed Natsu rush. In a mixture of curiosity and worry, she followed after him. She would soon find out that Natsu had run off because his enhanced hearing had caught some guy making a lewd comment about her.

Natsu caught up to the voice he heard. It was just some greasy punk. He'd teach the bastard a lesson and get back to helping Erza. "Oi, asshole!" he yelled. "What'd you say about my girl?!"

"Nothin' bad," said the punk. "Just that she got a tight little body. You're welcome."

"You-!" Natsu started to say, but Erza clasped a firm hand on his shoulder, effectively ordering him to stand down.

"You know," she said. "I suppose I should take the opportunity to thank you. It's not every day someone makes a lewd comment about my appearance." Anyone listening could feel the venom of her sarcasm in her voice. "So thank you..." Erza glowed as she Requipped into her Purgatory Armor. "...For giving me an excuse to crush you."

The poor bastard screamed in horror as Erza wreaked her unholy vengeance."And as for you!" Erza yelled, turning on a terrified waited for his impending doom, but to his surprise, Erza cancelled the Requip. "I still have half a dozen outfits to try on, you big sweetheart, you." She kissed Natsu on the lips and pulled him back toward the dressing room.

Natsu could only smile as once more, he reminded himself to never let Erza see red.

* * *

**Like I said, I struggled with this prompt, so I'm not sure if I'm totally happy with this, but I guess for now it'll work. It works on two levels, which I like. PM me if you care to guess the symbolism.**

**Anyway, I think I'm good for now. Until next time, peace and love from Nightlingbolt.**


	4. Rebirth

**Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here with another Natza prompt! This time, it's Rebirth!**

**Again, I struggled with this one, but I think I managed it just fine. The idea is... nah, just read it yourself!**

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does. I own the characters Naga and Elric.**

* * *

"Elric! Fight me!" demanded a pink-haired girl in her late teens. She wore a white belly shirt with orange trim and baggy black pants.

Elric, the scarlet-haired young man the girl was addressing, sighed. "Not today, Naga," he said. "I'm still burnt out from the last mission."

"No excuses!" yelled Naga as her fist ignited with fire. "Fire Dragon's Flare Burst!"

A burst of fire flew forth from Naga's fist toward Elric. Requipping a sword, he calmly deflected the blast back at the long-haired girl, knocking her down in one hit. "If you can't even withstand your own magic, how do you plan to beat me?" he asked.

"Bastard!" yelled Naga.

"Oh, suddenly I'm a bastard for asking a serious question?" asked Elric. "This is why you're not S-Class, Naga. You're overly combative with no sense of restraint."

"Shut up!" shouted Naga. "I'll defeat you one day! Then Master will have to make me S-Class like you!"

"Elric's right, you know," said a new voice. "Part of being strong is knowing when to accept defeat."

Naga and Elric looked behind them to see a middle-aged blond man. "Master!" Naga exclaimed.

"Oh, hey, Makarov," said Elric. "Sorry I forgot to check in after the last mission."

"Hey Elric!" Naga exclaimed. "Don't call the Master by his name!"

"It's all right, Naga," said Makarov. "Even after a year, it still feels strange to think of myself as a guild master. I can forgive Elric for forgetting. But more to the point, you still have yet to understand what being an S-Class mage of our guild entails."

"What? It means being strong, right? I'm strong enough to be S-Class! Even Elric said so!"

Elric did a double-take. "When did I say that?" he asked.

"I heard you talking to Luis," said Naga. "Dragon Slayer hearing, remember?"

Suddenly, Elric looked angry. "You little shit! You were eavesdropping?!" he yelled.

"I was! And guess what? I heard you say you liked me!"

"I said you were pretty! That doesn't mean anything!"

"You don't ever call the other girls pretty!"

"What I call other girls is none of your business!"

"Enough!" yelled Makarov, slapping both his mages with a Titan-powered hand.

"Elric is right about one crucial detail," said Makarov. "You're far too impulsive. To be an S-Class mage, you need to not only be strong, but able to make decisions in a responsible manner, as well as follow through with plans and orders. S-Class missions are especially dangerous. One rash decision, and you could end up like Daemon."

Naga gulped. She remembered Daemon. He was an S-Class mage who was killed in action in the last year's of Precht's leadership, and the reason the S-Class standards were raised. And here she was charging at Elric just for the sake of a fight. She felt so stupid!

"You're right, Master," said Naga seriously. "I'm not ready yet."

Elric flinched. He knew Naga and Daemon were close. It was a low blow on Makarov's part to play that card on her, but he didn't dare question it.

"But for now... I'll work towards defeating Elric. If I do all that stuff you said, I should be able to get an edge! I need to be smarter than him as well as stronger, right? Then once I get to that level, I'll be S-Class for sure!"

Elric smirked. He knew then he made the right decision accepting Naga as his rival. "Anytime, anywhere, I'll be waiting for you, Naga," he said.

"I'm all fired up!" said Naga. "I gotta go train! Bye, Master!" With that, she ran out of the guild.

"I should go too," said Elric. "Can't let myself lose to Naga, of all people." He then took his leave as well.

Makarov watched the two mages depart with a smile. "Brats like them come along once in a lifetime," he said.

* * *

Years later, Makarov had that same smile on his face watching Erza defeat Natsu for the first time.

"You're really strong, Erza!" said Natsu. "I'm glad I joined this guild!"

Erza blushed. "I'm glad you joined too, Natsu," she said

"I was wrong back then," he said. "Elric... Naga... could your spirits have been reborn in those two kids?"

"Hm? You say something, Gramps?" asked Natsu.

"Nothing, m'boy," said Makarov. "Just reminiscing about old times."

"Huh," said Natsu. Given Makarov's age, old times could mean anything, so he paid it no mind. All he cared about was figuring out how to beat Erza.

* * *

**And there you go!**

**For those of you who made it this far (and I hoe you didn't just skip to the end), I intended Naga and Elric to be the past lives of Natsu and Erza respectively, hence the whole Rebirth theme. Though I hope I made it at least a little obvious.**

**I was gonna depict Erza and Natsu as their current ages for the last scene, but it just didn't feel right. So instead, I went with their childhood days. I dunno, I think it works better.**

**Off to decide my next prompt! Until next time, peace and love from Nightlingbolt!**


	5. Dreamer

**Hello, people! Nightlingbolt here! Got another prompt for ya! This time, it's "Dreamer!"**

**Sorry I haven't been giving this the kind of attention I've been giving it. I spent the last week or so Nuzlocking Platinum, and today I got a total party kill against Fantina. My Gyarados and Luxio both bit it, and they were the only things I had that could potentially take her Mismagius. Also, my Bronzor lost half its health on a critical hit from her Haunter, so it stood to reason that a Shadow Ball from Mismagius would finish it off. My Ponyta took more damage than it could deal, so that was a disaster from the get-go, and Prinplup and Roselia? Magical Leaf and Psybeam. All in all, not pretty.**

**But hey, you don't care about Nuzlockes, you care about Fairy Tail, and I would hope you also care about Natza, since that's what I'm writing here! Now read and enjoy!**

**I do not own Fairy Tail or its characters, Hiro Mashima does.**

* * *

"Erza! I challenge you!"

Startled, Erza turned sharply to face the speaker. Sighing in relief, she said, "Oh, it's you, Natsu."

"You were expecting Guran Doma?" asked Natsu cheekily.

"How did you know to find me here?" Erza wondered. This was her secret spot. Well, hers and Gray's, but she hardly came here with the Ice mage anymore.

"I followed your scent," said Natsu. "So are you gonna fight me?"

"Not today," said Erza. "I have a lot on my mind."

Natsu frowned. He could tell something was distressing her. "Can I help?" he asked.

"No," replied Erza. "I'm just thinking about my last job."

Natsu wasn't convinced. "A job," he said.

"Yes," said Erza. "I made a stupid mistake, and I almost failed the job because of it."

Natsu stared at her critically, making Erza nervous. What she wasn't about to tell him was that someone claimed to have seen Jellal in Onibus, which in turn had caused old dreams of them living happily together to resurface. She thought she had accepted that she and Jellal could never be together, but dammit, that didn't stop her wanting such a thing.

Erza knew Natsu too well. If she exhibited even the slightest sign of distress, he would fuss over her until she was back to her normal scary self.

After a minute, Natsu gave a nod. He obviously didn't buy Erza's excuse, but he wasn't about to press the matter. "All right then," he said. "See you at the guild... whenever, I guess."

He turned to walk away, but Erza stopped him. "Stay," she told him. "I have something to ask you."

Natsu shuddered. "Look, if this is about that strawberry cake, it was technically in Lucy's fridge, and she didn't say if she was saving it for anything, so..."

Erza quirked a brow. "Lucy had strawberry cake?" she demanded.

"It's gone now! I had the last piece!" Natsu confessed.

Erza slammed her fist on the ground. "Damn!" she cursed. "My own fault for not realizing she had it."

Noticing Erza's lack of rage, Natsu gained some courage. "So what did you want to ask me?" he prompted.

"Sit," Erza instructed, placing a hand next to her. Natsu sat down in the indicated spot.

"Natsu... do you dream?"

"Dream?" repeated a confused Natsu. "I guess I do. I mean, I never remember any of them, but I do know they're weird."

Erza nodded. "I suppose what I should ask is, do you have a dream?" asked Erza.

"Other than finding Igneel, not really," Natsu responded.

"Any about... being with someone?" Erza specified. "Like... romantically?"

Natsu flinched. "I've... thought about it a couple times," he admitted. "Lisanna, when we were kids. But she's been hanging out with the Raijinshu lately, particularly Bickslow."

Erza gasped. "Bickslow?" she repeated.

"Yup," said Natsu. "I really don't see it, but hey, Bickslow's a trusted nakama. If it works out between them, it's enough that Lisanna's happy."

"That's awfully big of you," said Erza with a smile.

"Isn't it, though?" said Natsu. "Although... there is someone I've always wanted to tell how I feel," said Natsu. "Well, not always. Since a certain incident," admitted Natsu. "But she loves someone else, and it's kind of complicated, and I don't want to trample on her feelings..."

"_He must be referring to Loke and his status as Lucy's Spirit,"_ thought Erza.

"But like I said about Lisanna, it's enough for now that she's happy, and that she's going to be okay," said Natsu. "And my dream is to make sure she stays that way. After all..." He place a hand on Erza's shoulder, and what he said next surprised the Titania.

"I promised Simon I would protect her."

Suddenly, Erza found herself back in her room at Fairy Hills. "Only a dream," she sighed. She should have known Natsu didn't feel that way about her.

* * *

"What did you _say_ to her?!" Lucy asked Natsu outside of Erza's dorm.

"Nothing!" protested Natsu's voice. "We were talking, and then she just fainted for some reason!"

"Erza Scarlet doesn't 'just faint,' Natsu," said Lucy. "You said something, and I plan on finding out what!"

"Whatever," said Natsu.

He was NOT about to let Lucy figure out that he more or less confessed to Erza Scarlet!

* * *

**And there you go!**

**I was gonna leave it at Erza waking up, but that just seemed like a copout. This way, Erza thinks her conversation with Natsu was a dream, but Natsu knows otherwise. I'm so clever!**

**...**

**Shut up! Let me pretend!**

**Anyway, I promise to get right to work on the next prompt, or at least not waste my time on another Nuzlocke. Until next time, peace and love from Nightlingbolt.**


End file.
